The imprint of a chilling confession letter written by a murderer who referred to himself as the 'Angel of Mercy' has been detailed in a ITV documentary. Andrew Dawson gave himself the menacing title after murdering two of his neighbours, John Matthews and Paul Hancock, in separate attacks in Chaddesden, Derbyshire, before leaving their bodies in their bathtubs. He had already served one life sentence for the murder of a shopkeeper that he committed in 1981 before writing the sinister note to police, confessing to one of the killings, which he signed: 'Yours, the Angel of Mercy'.

Police found the remains of kitchen porter Mr Matthews, 66, with a rose on 25 July 2011, after concerned relatives and work colleagues reported him missing. Five days later, 58-year-old Mr Hancock, who lived on the floor above Dawson and Mr Matthews in the block of flats, was also found dead. Both had suffered severe injuries, with Mr Matthews receiving at least 18 stab wounds to the face, neck and head and Mr Hancock at least 22 to the head, chest, and body.

In ITV's Murder: First on the Scene, which airs tonight at 9pm, Claire Duffin, Crime Correspondent at the Derby Telegraph, dubbed the letter unusual, saying: 'The whole case is just bizarre. 'The fact that he was quite forensically aware and cleaned the first scene really well... and then wrote a confession letter.'. The sinister confession letter written by Andrew Dawson (pictured) after he killed two neighbours has been detailed in a ITV documentary.

After killing Mr Matthews, Dawson had carefully cleaned the flat in a bid to remove any evidence linking him to the crime, although he left a pink rose at the scene. Before stabbing his second victim two weeks later, he donned waterproof clothing and rubber gloves in an attempt to avoid leaving any clues behind. Despite his efforts, the 'sinister' letter imprinted on a notebook and extracted by special technology read: 'To head of homicide, I want to confess to a murder.

'I stabbed a man to death. A man lies in a bath of water, two major wounds to his left side, one, maybe two, to his chest, one to his back, and one to the base of his neck. This is no hoax. 'If you don't find him in a week, I will give you his address. The pink rose was a nice touch. 'Yours, the Angel of Mercy'. The police team used special technology to produce a reading of the imprint of Dawson's letter (pictured).

Claire Duffin (pictured), Crime Correspondent at the Derby Telegraph, dubbed the confession letter 'bizarre'. Talking in the documentary, Paul Callum, Senior Investigating Officer, said the letter was a 'unbelievable breakthrough,' adding: 'The notepad was a confession and [he] talked about the murder and... about the rose being on a bed.'. Dawson had already faced a life sentence for the murder of a shopkeeper, stabbing him a dozen times with bread knife in 1981.

He was given a life sentence in 1982 after admitting the murder of the 91-year-old, Henry Walsh, in Ormskirk, Lancashire, before being released in 1999. Duffin explained: 'His first murder was also a brutal knife attack... he later went on to use the same method in killing two other men years later.'. Despite Dawson's later murders sending shockwaves around the Derby community, his brother always suspected that he would commit horrific crimes.

'Dawson was one of six siblings, his father was the foundryman and his mother a hospital cleaner,' Duffin said,. She continued: 'I think Dawson had a poor upbringing, but by no means impoverished. 'From a young age [he] was in and out of trouble with the police. I think he started sniffing glue when he was just 13 and then went on to cannabis and other drugs.'. The murderer brutally attacked John Matthews and Paul Hancock in the block of flats that they shared with him, pictured.

'When his brother found out what Dawson had done, he wasn't surprised at all, he said his brother was an evil psychopath, said it was only a matter of time before he killed again, said he'd always been a violent man.'. In July 2011, Malcolm Dawson, then-51, said: 'They should have left him in there the first time. 'When they said life they should have meant it and kept him in for life. I was best man at his wedding but I would never turn my back on him for a second.

'I know what he is like - he has no conscience. He was always talking about The Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, and all these other murderers, saying they were wimps. 'I think he will take himself out or he will try and do one of the other inmates - he is pure evil, a total psycho. 'If the Government would like to appoint me as an official hangman I - and others of my family come to think of it - would gladly put the noose around his neck and then pull the lever.

'He should suffer because that evil devil deserves no less. I would not lose sleep over it.'. Dawson was arrested in Whitehaven, Cumbria - more than 200 miles from the scene of the killings, in Chaddesden, Derby. Police officers found him with camping gear, and a number of kitchen knives. Dawson told police he felt an 'urge to kill' before knocking on the men's doors in the block of flats in Chaddesden, Derby, where they lived, and launching frenzied assaults on them.